A historical note on the 3/2-approximation algorithm for the metric traveling salesman problem

René van Bevern; Viktoriia A. Slugina

doi:10.1016/j.hm.2020.04.003

A historical note on the 3/2-approximation algorithm for the metric traveling salesman problem

René van Bevern, Viktoriia A. Slugina

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

One of the most fundamental results in combinatorial optimization is the polynomial-time 3/2-approximation algorithm for the metric traveling salesman problem. It was presented by Christofides in 1976 and is well known as “the Christofides algorithm”. Recently, some authors started calling it “Christofides-Serdyukov algorithm”, pointing out that it was published independently in the USSR in 1978. We provide some historic background on Serdyukov's findings and a translation of his article from Russian into English.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	118-127
Number of pages	10
Journal	Historia Mathematica
Volume	53
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hm.2020.04.003
Publication status	Published - Nov 2020

Keywords

Christofides algorithm
Combinatorial optimization
Novosibirsk Akademgorodok
USSR

OECD FOS+WOS

1.01 MATHEMATICS
1.01.PO MATHEMATICS, INTERDISCIPLINARY APPLICATIONS
6.01.MM HISTORY
6.01.MQ HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

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10.1016/j.hm.2020.04.003

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